Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Osmosis Iron Sequel to Rodriguez's debut "El Mariachi" gets a big budget, big guns and big stars, but it remains a "b-action flick" at heart. So no overly complex story, but rather cool characters, over the top shootouts and even the dialogue is obviously just aiming to be cool - in which it mostly succeeds! Soundtrack is nicely Mexican flavored and very fitting.
NateWatchesCoolMovies Robert Rodriguez's Desperado is the original south of the border shoot em up bloodbath, bar none. I'm aware it's a sequel/remake of Robert's breakout debut El Mariachi, but the now legendary style and brutality he cultivated started to blossom here in the Mexican desert with scowling Antonio Banderas and his guitar case packed with heavy artillery. The aesthetic coalesced into something measurable here, whilst in Mariachi we only saw fits and starts. Here the tone is solidified and paves the way for the magnum opus that is Once Upon A Time In Mexico, my favourite Rodriguez flick. It all starts with the image of Banderas sauntering into a scumbucket cantina, full of sweaty machismo and smouldering angst, laying waste to the place with more phallic firepower than the entire wild Bunch. It's a time capsule worthy sequence that demonstrates the pure viscerally intoxicating effect that the action film has on a viewer, when done as well as it is here. Narrated by wisecracking sidekick Buscemi (Steve Buscemi, naturally), Banderas positively perforates the place, fuelled by the internal furnace of revenge, shrouded in the acrid scent of gunpowder and awash in tequila delirium. As soon as this sequence blows past, the credits roll up and we're treated to a Mariachi ballad sung by Antonio himself, belted out with his band to ring in this hell-beast of a movie. Together, those two scenes are some of the very, very best opening sequences you can find out there, timelessly re-watchable. The rest of the film pulls no punches either, as we see El leave a wanton gash of carnage in his wake across Mexico, on a vision quest of violence as he works his way up the ranks of organized crime, starting with slimy dive bar owner Cheech Marin. Quentin Tarantino has a spitfire cameo, rattling off a ridiculous joke before El steps into yet another bar and the sh*%#t (as well as the blood) hits the fan. His endgame target is crime boss Bucho, played with terrifying ferocity by Joaquim De Almeida. It's hard to picture an angrier performance than Banderas's before Almeida shows up, but this guy is a violent livewire who's not above capping off his own henchman like ducks in a row, puffing on a giant cigar and casually blowing the smoke in his concubine's face mid coitus. El has a love interest of his own too, in the form of ravishing, full bodied Carolina (Salma Hayek). Hayek is a babe of the highest order, and their steamy candle lit sex scene is one of the most full on 'jizz your pants' rolls in the hay that 90's cinema has to offer. This is an action film to the bone though, and they've scarcely mopped up and caught their breath before he's forced to dispatch another horde of Bucho's degenerates in high style. One has to laugh a bit when a guitar case becomes a full on rocket launcher during the earth shattering finale, but such are the stylistic dreams of Rodriguez, a filmmaker who is never anything short of extreme in his work. As if the guns weren't enough, Danny Trejo shows up as a mute assassin who like to hurl throwing knives at anything that moves, and it's this Baby Groot version of his Machete character years later that comes the closest to punching El's ticket. The stunt work is jaw dropping as well, a tactile ballet of broad movements, squib armies that light up the screen, accompanied by gallons of blood that follows the thunder clap of each gunshot wound like crimson lightning. It's a perfect package for any lover of action, romance, action, darkest of humour, action, oh and action too. When discussing films that have held up in years or decades since release, this one is not only a notable mention, it's a glowing example and a classic that has just aged gorgeously.
Predrag This movie is about a Mexican guy who is out for revenge by hunting down his brother for killing his girlfriend! Until he met a beautiful women who took him in to care for him after being shot by his enemies, it almost change everything! But the guy is still on a mission to hunt his brother down regardless! On the outside "Desperado" may just look like a generic 90's action movie with Mexican flair (it may on the inside a little too), but what it really showed was the potential of a talented filmmaker and ultimately the world that he would create with his Mexican Western trilogy.This movie isn't big on plot. You don't watch it for the plot. Well, there kind of is, but it's flimsy. Also Banderas is a damn fine actor! He is perfectly cast as the nameless "Mariachi." Salma Hayek is looking' good as the love interest, but aside from being Salma Hayek (something no man can quibble over), she isn't given much to work with. Still, there is a hilarious throwaway role filled past the brim by the inestimable Steve Buscemi; Cheech Marin appears as "the Bartender." Quentin Tarantino even pops up to tell an obscene joke (can you imagine?). Plain and simple, if you're looking for an above-average action thriller with lots of goofy humor, this is the way to do it.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
powermandan When it comes to action and action alone, Desperado is one of the all-time greats. Robert Rodriguez makes too many mistakes for this to be a timeless giant like Terminator or Die Hard. But because of how good the action and writing are, it is in the same realm of true action masterpieces.Desperado is the bigger-budgeted sequel/remake of Robert Rodriguez's first film entitled El Mariachi. This is one of those sequels where it might help watching the original one first. Even by watching El Mariachi first, it does not clear up anything flaw that Desperado has.The one and only flaw I have to give this is the poor transition between the two films. El Mariachi is about a talented guitar player (played in that by Carlos Gallardo) who comes to a town in search of work, where he becomes the subject of a huge case of mistaken identity and bears witness to drug lord, Moco, murder his girlfriend, Domino. He shoots El's hand and El shoots and kills him. In this El (now played by Antonio Banderas) seeks vengeance against another drug lord known as Bucho for murdering Domino. Bucho had nothing to do with the first film, and he already got his revenge against Moco, whom he knew was responsible. There's even a flashback scene with Domino and Moco. This unclarity was the main reason why this meant any sort of negativity. The most logical assumption was that Bucho was a high-ranking drug lord just above Moco, But that assumption does not give our hero a truly clear motive for going on a killing spree. This is a revenge story, but the movie never gives any point behind it all.My inference to this is like Hamlet. (This is just what I interpret). After El kills Moco, his hand is maimed, his girlfriend is dead, and he is out of work. He has no other reason to live. Carolina says to him: "I've heard of you, you kill drug dealers." Given how much longer the character's hair has gotten and how much he's improved in his shooting abilities, it is evident that some time has ed. So El must've gone on a killing spree, getting everybody underneath Bucho. How is this like Hamlet? Hamlet has no reason to live, until he plots to avenge his father's death. Avenging his father's death has given him a reason to stay alive, so he procrastinates actually going through with it. After he gets revenge, he has no other point in living. El is pretty much the same way. If he doesn't go after all of Bucho's men (then Bucho himself) he has no point in living. Revenge has consumed their entire lives, giving new meaning, which they don't want to let go of. Well, this is my interpretation of it anyway!El arrives in a new town in Mexico where he destroys Bucho's goons with the help of his special guitar case. The lack of identity has Bucho paranoid, while El falls in love with bookstore owner, Carolina (Hayak) who works under Bucho. The relationship between Carolina and Bucho is exactly like Domino and Moco. There's a few other details which give this a remake feel. Desperado is a modern-day spaghetti western. Our nameless hero, only known as El Mariachi, battles armies by himself, where clichés are always around. A bunch of guys shoot him at close range with machine guns and miss, but El shoots them once and they die. Although the clichés are noticeable, the action sequences are loud, intense, gory, and awesome. Although this was made long after gunfights became an art form, almost every action scene this has beats many classic action movies. When it comes to violence, I know good from bad and this is full of some of the best. The first time I watched this (before I exactly knew good movies from bad ones) I was blown away. Despite my knowledge in movies growing since then, it still rocks me every time I see this. Although the action is really what makes this, it is not the only redeeming quality. Whenever there is music playing, it fits. There's rock, blues, and Spanish music put in their respective places, making the scenes that much better. The love story between El and Carolina is even pulled off, despite being generic. And Rodriguez constructs each character to a high degree. He is able to do this by creating killer dialogue, including a hilarious joke given by Quentin Tarantino. So even though there is a big gap between this and the first resulting in a shallow general plot, Desperado is a dynamite tribute to spaghetti westerns with fill redemption which will remain one of the best action movies ever.
